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Published on: September 28, 2018
The Trojan horse of historical myths: Emotion-driven narratives as a strategy for coalitional recruitment
Petra Pelletier1, Nicolas Fay2
1Laboratory of Social Psychology: Contexts and Regulation (EA 4471), University of Paris Cité, Paris, France petra.pelletier@gmail.com; petra.pelletier@parisdescartes.fr.
Abstract:
Sijilmassi et al. offer a cognitive account of historical myths, which they present as a cognitive technology designed to recruit coalitional support. We argue this account is incomplete, and that a comprehensive explanation of historical myths must include a central role for human emotions. In particular, emotion-driven narratives have the capacity to recruit coalitional support, which is critical to large-scale human cooperation and social cohesion.
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